Not kicking off another best tyre thread, just want to know what the manufacturer fitted tyre on the VRS was. Are OEM tyres genuinely selected to suit the individual car or is it simply a standard contract to supply across the range?

Mine had Bridgestone Turzana's, my dad's had Continental something...

mine were contis

...and mine Michelin Primacies...

Just depends who's supplying the factory at the time!

Conti's sport contacts I believe. I imagine they were cheap at the time...

I asked for Toyos and thats what they gave me. As long as they are the right size and speed rating, they are OEM.

As others have said, they vary. Mine had Conti Sport Contact 2.

Whatever was cheapest for bulk orders at the time then

Thanks chaps - think one of my rears may be an original Conti then at 50k miles as I bought it with 3 Pirellis.

If you've got an earlier model (with alloy spare) it could be the spare on the back corner. Check and see whats in your boot.

Conti's aren't too great, so don't rush out and buy some just because they're (were) OEM

Mine came with Bridgestones, Which were FUBAR'd in 14,000 miles. Replaced with T1R's which are wearing much better!

Conti's aren't too great, so don't rush out and buy some just because they're (were) OEM

I don't know where you're getting that information from, but the Continental Sport Contact II is probably the best all-round tyre you can buy. Proper parametric testing has proven they are reasonably economical in MPG terms, they last a long time, they are way better than average in terms of wet and dry grip, in hot or cold weather, they are quite quiet compared to other performance tyres and finally they're a lot cheaper than Michelin Primacy's.

Auto Motor und Sport who properly test tyres with measuring devices rate them #1 overall across most tyre sizes. I know it's highly fashionable to like Falken/Toyo/LingLong/whatever is cheap from Camskill this week, but the Continental Sport Contact II is one heck of a tyre.

wja to each his own

I just want hard wearing tyres that won't compromise any fuel efficiency, but will keep me on the road in the wet and dry under normal driving conditions (and all that torque) and any potential evasive manouevres. So an allrounder then...

I think I've changed my mind actually and will try Contis again...

I don't know where you're getting that information from, but the Continental Sport Contact II is probably the best all-round tyre you can buy. Proper parametric testing has proven they are reasonably economical in MPG terms, they last a long time, they are way better than average in terms of wet and dry grip, in hot or cold weather, they are quite quiet compared to other performance tyres and finally they're a lot cheaper than Michelin Primacy's.

but I would still NEVER fit a Conti to any car i own

my VRS came with the Michelins , yes they are expensive , and many people don't rate them for grip, but they last for ever , very rarely do they wear unevenly (unlike Contis or Bridgestones) and on the VRS they lessen the tendency for the car to pull/drift to the left

the 5+ year old Primacys i am currently running on the front have about 2mm tread left , and the grip i'm getting now is better than when they half worn , even in the wet

It's a Norfolk/Suffolk thing isn't it?

I just want hard wearing tyres that won't compromise any fuel efficiency, but will keep me on the road in the wet and dry under normal driving conditions (and all that torque) and any potential evasive manouevres. So an allrounder then...

I think I've changed my mind actually and will try Contis again...

Nope. From your description of what you want, get a £25 CostCo card and you can have 4 brand new Michelin Primacy's for £410 fitted and balanced. They are the most long-lived and fuel efficient tyres out there. They handle OK, but according to my Auto Motor und Sport bible, they are too expensive to be considered against the Continentals. With CostCo's pricing, that tips the balance back to the Michelins.

Haha I have disregarded you all and settled on Uniroyal Rainsport 2's. Seriously I am now fed up of reading tyre reviews for a good year or so. Hopefully two if they wear well!!

I never got on well with any of Conti's SC range. Each to their own though, as has been said

Good call on the Rainsport 2s - good overall tyre

Steve

Another anti conti member here. Had a few sets of them including conti 2's. Never again.

Mine came with the michelins which I believe are no longer available. On michelins site they recomend the exalto pe2 which is an excellent tyre.

+1 to the anti-conti brigade. Had some SportContact 2s on some wheels I bought off here, had them on for about 5000 miles then got tired of them constantly tramlining and making the front end all uncomfortable (and noisy!) and also their braking and acceleration grip was poor to say the least...

Nope. From your description of what you want, get a £25 CostCo card and you can have 4 brand new Michelin Primacy's for £410 fitted and balanced. They are the most long-lived and fuel efficient tyres out there. They handle OK, but according to my Auto Motor und Sport bible, they are too expensive to be considered against the Continentals. With CostCo's pricing, that tips the balance back to the Michelins.

So that's GBP435 for tyres that are no longer made, from a cash and carry (which to me is a bit like buying slabs of beer from Halfords)...??? :confused:

A non-specified company of mobile fitters known and loved by me will supply, fit and balance a set of Exalto 2s for between GBP385 and GBP437, depending on whether you want them in 83V, 83W or 87W XL flavour. That's around GBP7.50 per corner more than the equivalent Sport Contact 2s, which is hardly deal-breaking money IMO - it really is what works best for you. :ne_nau:

I've not tried the Contis, but as I said, I had the 'old' Primacies on mine and I didn't particularly like them because I thought the balance of grip vs. wear was too heavily tipped to the wear side. I got 20k out of the fronts, but didn't feel especially comfortable with them at any time. :(

Just to add more into the mix, there was a thread about a year ago asking people's opinion on THE SAME TYRES, and I think the consensus was that tyre quality and properties can vary quite considerably from batch to batch. And don't forget that the 'demonstrators' sent to car magazines are special production runs, and bear about as much resemblance to their mass-produced cousins as the custom, hand-made Total 90s on Christiano Ronaldo's feet do to the replicas you can buy at your local JJB. (Which is why the manufacturers slash the sidewalls after they take them off the test cars... )

I have the last bit on very good authority, by the way - it's not urban myth!

Interesting about the press tyre test info - hardly surprising. Especially when I just looked on a tyre review site and the Pirelli's have just won Autoexpress 2009 tests. Oh well, the owners reviews all say Uniroyals...

So that's GBP435 for tyres that are no longer made, from a cash and carry (which to me is a bit like buying slabs of beer from Halfords)...??? :confused:[/Quote]

I don't think you've been to CostCo. It;'s not a cash'n'carry. It's a price club. They only sell Michelins and they are still quoting Primacy for the Fabia. If you compare the fitted/balanced price of £102.50 for a 205/45/16/83W to other retailers like Camskill, Black Circles or MyTyres they are pretty reasonably priced.

A non-specified company of mobile fitters known and loved by me will supply, fit and balance a set of Exalto 2s for between GBP385 and GBP437, depending on whether you want them in 83V, 83W or 87W XL flavour. That's around GBP7.50 per corner more than the equivalent Sport Contact 2s, which is hardly deal-breaking money IMO - it really is what works best for you. :ne_nau:[/Quote]

well, shouldn't you name them so we can all buy some if they're that cheap? The compariosn being made is between Kwik-Fit who charge £95 fitted for a Conti SCII or £145 fitted for a Michelin, at which point it is a dealbreaker for most people.

I've not tried the Contis, but as I said, I had the 'old' Primacies on mine and I didn't particularly like them because I thought the balance of grip vs. wear was too heavily tipped to the wear side. I got 20k out of the fronts, but didn't feel especially comfortable with them at any time. :([/Quote]

I think tyres are a very personal thing. I run mine extremely hard (I run the loaded settings with just me in the car and increase the pressures pro-rata if it's loaded) because I like the feel that way. I know others who think my car feels like the steering is too light, but it's not a problem because I drive mine and they drive theirs. I got something stupid like 30,000 (F)/60,000 ® miles out of the first set of Bridgestones on my Fabia and I've just stunned my dealer because I've done 40,000 in my Passat and I'm still on the original Continental SCIIs front and rear. Admittedly the fronts are nearly on the wear-bars, but the rears still have 5mm on them.

Just to add more into the mix, there was a thread about a year ago asking people's opinion on THE SAME TYRES, and I think the consensus was that tyre quality and properties can vary quite considerably from batch to batch. And don't forget that the 'demonstrators' sent to car magazines are special production runs, and bear about as much resemblance to their mass-produced cousins as the custom, hand-made Total 90s on Christiano Ronaldo's feet do to the replicas you can buy at your local JJB. (Which is why the manufacturers slash the sidewalls after they take them off the test cars... )

I have the last bit on very good authority, by the way - it's not urban myth!

Well, I can't comment on that, but I would imagine that one reason the manufacturers slash tyres after tests is to make sure no-one makes off with them and has an accident because the tyre has been worked to the extremes of it's abilities during the testing and has been damaged in some way. And if all the manufacturers are sending in ringers then you'd have to say that the natural pecking order still seems to be maintained in that the tyres you would expect to do well, do well in the tests, so the special production batches at Yokohama, Vredestein and Hankook must still be a bit poo compared to the special production batches made at Pirelli, Michelin and Continental. Or do they all get together and decide who's going to win each test in advance.

Oh look! It's a black helicopter.

And don't forget that the 'demonstrators' sent to car magazines are special production runs

To ensure the tyres we were sent were the same as those you can buy' date=' we purchased three sets at random, and compared wet braking performance – this shows any differences in compound or construction. All were the same as supplied.[/Quote']

So possibly not so special production runs after all.

I don't know where you're getting that information from, but the Continental Sport Contact II is probably the best all-round tyre you can buy. Proper parametric testing has proven they are reasonably economical in MPG terms, they last a long time, they are way better than average in terms of wet and dry grip, in hot or cold weather, they are quite quiet compared to other performance tyres and finally they're a lot cheaper than Michelin Primacy's.

Auto Motor und Sport who properly test tyres with measuring devices rate them #1 overall across most tyre sizes. I know it's highly fashionable to like Falken/Toyo/LingLong/whatever is cheap from Camskill this week, but the Continental Sport Contact II is one heck of a tyre.

:iagree:

And to think, I used to swear by Eagle F1s too...

Oh, and my vRS came shod with SportContact IIs.